LEAD- Leadership

John Maxwell loves to say: “if you are leading and no one is following, you are only taking a walk”. The first component of LEADis Leadership. I grew up in a church where leadership wasn’t taught, explained, modeled, mentored, preached, or practiced much.

It got a little better in my formal education, but most of the leadership concepts I learned came about in two ways:

1. Personal interest in the subject.

2. Personal mistakes that taught me leadership lessons.

I remember arriving at my first church (most of us might identify with what I am about to share), and having a board meeting. I was coming with all these plans, dreams, and I was absolutely sure I was the leader. After all, I was the pastor! That lasted about the 30 minutes it took for my first elder to call me “little boy” after I disagreed with him on a point. There went my plans. I remember feeling very discouraged. I survived, but noticed immediately my need to grow in the area of leadership.

Here are some leadership concepts that have been beneficial to me. Keys to successful leadership:

1. Relationships. People follow leader, then the vision. You first connect, then convince.

2. Innovation. The enemy of future success is past success. Just because it worked in the past, does not mean it will work the same way in the future.

3. Connections. I decided to have 3 people in my life. A teacher I can learn from. A companion I can share with. A student I can teach. Those were my choices. God brought me a 4th person- An antagonist that will keep me on my knees. (There is one of those everywhere!)

4. Purpose. It’s easy to confuse activity with progress. What we do, when we do it, and who we do it with, has to fit in the overall purpose that God has for our lives. The clearer the purpose, the easier it is to say no and yes to invitations, requests, and demands for our time.

I am passionate about finding answers for the following questions. Please share your thoughts.

1. What are some good leadership lessons you have learned?

2. Is there anything we at the Southern Union can do to help you develop your leadership?

Book of the week- 5 Levels of Leadership. By John Maxwell. First one to email me, gets it. Please email your complete adress.

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Roger Hernandez is the Ministerial and Evangelism Director for the Southern Union (of SDA). He has presented at multiple events including camp meetings, leadership conventions, and evangelistic crusades and training events. He is the author of five books, the most recent being Epic Fail, published in 2011. wife, Kathy, and children Yessenia, Deisy, Vanessa & Jonathan.